Oriental Land Company, owner and operator of Tokyo Disneyland, has announced that it will be following in the footsteps of the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts and will be updating its ‘Star Tours’ attraction in Tomorrowland. With an estimated cost of 7 billion yen (approximately $91 million US), ‘Star Tours: The Adventure Continues’ is expected to open in spring 2013.

In addition to announcing the personal appearance of R2-MK at Star Wars Weekends this year, Disney Parks has also confirmed closure dates for the Star Tours attraction at both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts.

As we already advised back in March, the attraction is scheduled to close on September 8 with an expected re-opening date of May 20, 2011 in Orlando while the Anaheim version will close much earlier than originally anticipated on July 27 with an expected re-opening date of May 10, 2011.

You probably saw this coming a lightyear away, but with the return of Captain EO to Disneyland, there simply must be a way to bring the experience home with you. Enter a full line of limited release EO merchandise featuring the Captain EO logo.

Among the items to be found at the Main Street Emporium, Star Trader and Tomorrowlanding, you’ll find a button ($3.95), poster ($7.95), men’s tee ($26.95), ladies’ tee ($24.95), crew fleece ($42.95), military cap ($24.95) and beanie hat ($24.95).

There will also be an embroidered nylon jacket expected to be released in mid-March.

Disneyland officially announced today that Captain EO starring the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, will make it’s Disneyland re-debut on February 23.

The resort does note that some of the special effects from the original installation of the film will not be part of the return limited engagement, but that it will use a new print of the film and the sound has been greatly enhanced.

After a question arose earlier today on Twitter in regards to our initial report that Honey, I Shrunk the Audience was scheduled to be closed until January 29, making the assumption it would re-open as Captain Eo, we went back and confirmed with the original source which has since been updated and currently reads as closed until January 29, 2011.

So someone made an unfortunate, honest mistake, either us for initially mis-reading it, or they for publishing the wrong year, but it looks like all we currently can surmise is that Captain Eo should be running at least through the remainder of the year before closing to switch back to HISTA which will re-open on January 29, 2011. In either case, we apologize for the mis-information.

In anticipation of the return engagement of Captain EO to the Disneyland Resort, ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Audience’ in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland closes today and, according to an official refurbishment schedule, is expected to re-open on January 29, presumably as Captain EO, starring Michael Jackson.

Via its blog, Disney Parks confirmed today that the longstanding rumor that Captain EO will return to Disneyland will in fact happen, albeit for a limited engagement of an as-of-yet unspecified time. In anticipation of the film’s return in February, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience will close within a few weeks for the change-over.

More details should be forthcoming on the Parks’ blog as they’re made available.

On its official blog, Disney Parks provides a glimpse of a new feature found in the recently renovated Space Mountain (expected to begin soft openings this week, with a relaunch date of November 22). As we reported along with the assistance of the Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Garcia back in June, the team that did development on Soarin’s interactive queue brought a taste of their magic to the Space Mountain queue. The blog mentions that the long queue (the show building is quite a walk from the entrance) will have multiple games featured with each game’s objective being fundamental to the attraction’s storyline. Each 90 second game will also be able to accomodate dozens of players at the same time.

Although we haven’t gotten confirmation directly from Disney as of yet, a reputable source has indicated that the re-opening date of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority in the Magic Kingdom has been pushed back yet again, for a third time. The current expected re-opening date is September 12.

ReSearch! will be updated with the new date, but it will be marked as an unofficial source pending official confirmation.

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